Sunday, August 24, 2014

Summer Update and the Year Ahead

Bulldog 25k, photo by Becky Galland

Had a great time running Bulldog 25k yesterday. It was my fastest lap of Malibu Creek State Park by forty seconds per mile. I had originally signed up for the 50k, but chose to to run a shorter distance at a faster pace instead. In 2011, it was extremely hot. This year was sunny and warm, but mild in comparison.

I swam the Dwight Crum Pier to Pier earlier in August. It was the fifth time I’ve completed the event. The water was very warm this year, around 70 degrees. The coldest year I swam it dipped to 58 degrees Excellent conditions and an always competitive field produced lots of fast times. The top 25 this year were under 45 minutes. Shark sightings during the race made the news.

The first weekend of August, I followed the Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run from home, online. I switched between social media and the heralded live tracking website to watch the race unfold. The next day at noon, registration opened for 2015 and I was lucky to get a spot before it sold out in a record 15 minutes!

Next up, a pair of cycling events in September. The Amtrak Century is from the Irvine Amtrak Station to San Diego. Later in September, the local metric century, Rat Beach Ride. Then, my AC100 qualifier at the end of November, the Santa Barabara Red Rock 50 Miler. And there is one more upcoming race already on the calendar, the Santiago Marathon in April 2014, although I could do the 13.1 mile race instead at this event.

To conclude this post, I want to thank the Vistamar School Cross Country team, coaches, and administration for inviting me to lead a few runs over the Summer. It was fun, challenging, and an honor to train with you.